Containers or packages



June 4, 1963 Filed March 30, 1961 H. E. CHAPMAN CONTAINERS OR PACKAGES 4Sheets-Sheet 1 'maw INVENT R B /JAQATTORNEY June 4, 1963 H. E. CHAPMAN3,092,249

CONTAINERS OR PACKAGES Filed March 30, 1961 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 June 4,1963 H. E. CHAPMAN 3,092,249

CONTAINERS 0R PACKAGES Filed March 30, 1961 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 F/a/J. f9.1

@Mrz-QW B @JLD MTTORNEY June 4, 1963 H. E. CHAPMAN 3,092,249

CONTAINERS 0R PACKAGES Filed March 30, 1961 A A. Sheets-Sheet 4 wx-ENTOR BWM AZQJATTORNEY has covering material applied to its flat sidefaces.

United States arent O 3,092,249 CONTAINERS R PACKAGES Harold EricChapman, 12. Denmark St., Birmingham 19, England Filed Mar. 30, 1961,Ser. No. 99,422 6 Claims. (Cl. 2416-46) "Ihis -invention relates tocontainers or packages intended for enclosing articles or goods whichshould be lmaintained in a sterile condition, out of contact with anyair or gas liable to cause contamination.

The invention is applicable, for example, to containers or packagesintended for enclosing perishable materials, foods either solid orsemi-solid, liquids such as milk, and fruit juices, drugs, surgicaldressings, surgical gowns and gloves, and other surgical and medicalsupplies and appliances, including surgical instruments; as Well asnumerous other goods, such as pillows, mattresses and the like used inhospitals and the like.

An object of the invention is to provide a container or package havingsimple but effective means whereby air can enter the same only throughair `filtering means.

Another object is to provide an air ilter, for incorporation in acontainer or package, which is of a form such that it can be readilyapplied to a container or package, and which is of a form orconstruction such that air passing through it, when incorporated in acontainer or package, is constrained to traverse a jltering path ofpredetermined minimum length.

In this specification and claims the term air is intended to include agas or vapour; and the term air impervious material is intended toinclude any material that is not readily penetrable by air, vapours orgases at temperatures usual in any regions in which the containers orpackages are likely to be used.

According to the invention, a container or package is made of airimpervious material and has therein an opening or mouth closed by an airsterilizing iilter consisting of a strip, tape or length of air lteringmaterial secured and bonded to the container or package at the sides ofthe said opening or mouth, so that the only ingress for air to enter thecontainer or package is through the lter.

Also, according to the invention, an air sterilizing lter for closing anopening in a container or package comprises a at tape or strip of airltering and sterilizing material sandwiched between and bonded tocovering material applied to opposite side faces. Apertures may beprovided in opposite side portions of the covering ,materiaL so that airentering the apertures in one side vin the other side portion.

In another form of tape or strip iilter, the ltering material is exposedat its two longitudinal edges, but The covering material of the tape orstrip filter maybe exjtended at opposite sides'to form longitudinalmargins or flanges for attachment to the body material of the containeror package.

The container or package may incorporate a filter consisting of a stripor length of ltering materim included between covering material atopposite sides, said filter being attached to portions of the containeror package which are adjacent the opening or mouth therein, by saidcovering material being bonded to said portions. Or, a at strip of airltering material may be fitted between the sides of the mouth or openingof the container or package fwith one edge of said strip exposed toexternal at- 3,092,249 Patented June 4, 1963 "ice mosphere and with theother edge exposed to the interior of the container or package. The saidstrip of filtering material may be applied and secured directly to thesides of the mouth or opening without any covering material between, :orit may have covering material applied and secured to the at side facesand directly bonded to the sides of the mouth or opening of thecontainer or package.

The container or package may include a filter composed of two at stripsof air filtering material arranged edgewise and in co-planar alignmentin a single tape tted within the mouth or opening of the container orpackage, so that air entering the latter has to pass through both stripsin succession, an edge of the outer strip being exposed to the exterioratmosphere and an edge of the inner strip being in communication withthe interior of the container or package.

A package may comprise two superimposed sheets of material joinedtogether along three sides, with a llat strip of air filtering materialbonded between the remaining vsides of the sheets, and said sheets alsobeing joined together at positions between opposite sides, so as to forma plurality of compartments with respect to which the strip of lteringmaterial is common. At least one of the said sheets may be recessed toform a plurality of hollow compartments or cavities each communicatingby a duct with the strip of air ltering material.

In all the various forms of the invention when air enters the containeror package it is sterilized by its passage through the Iiilter which maybe suitably treated to ensure such sterilization, and in addition, itmay be Water-repellent and re resistant.

The body of the container or package may be made of plastic lm, iilmlaminate, aluminium laminate, coated paper or other material imperviousto water and air; and ythe ltering material may conveniently consist ofan anastomosing synthetic sponge of suitable texture and which isprocessed to incorporate the sterilizing and other qualities required.Or polyurethane yfoam or coarsetexture bibulous paper strip or the likemay be used.

In the case of the tape form of the filters, where the :material issandwiched 4between covering material, such -covering material would beof a character corresponding to the nature of the material of the bodyof the con- .tainer .or package, such that it could ybe 'secured theretoby a suitable adhesive or by heat welding.

In the case of the dual form of iilter, the outer filtering .strip couldbe a sterilizing strip ,to intercept bacteria,

whilst the inner strip could be an untreated chemically- .inert strip.This form of the invention would |be especially suitable for use incontainers -for -foods and drugs.

The filters will permit the containers or packages being exhausted oftheir original air or other Agaseous content,

and 'then lled with gases suitable -forthe purpose of sterilizing orfumigating, or -for providing a non-oxidising atmosphere within thepackage. Suchvpackages may be ,subsequently hermetically sealed, `if sodesired, if pro- Yvision is made Ifor the expansion of the containedrgasat prevailing ambient temperatures. The iilters also permit of theadmission of steam or other vapours into the container, andv Ithevdegree of humidity in the container may lthereby -be controlled, whichis an important factor in Y sterilised subsequent to packaging (withoutthe use of preservatives), and such sterilised products will remainsterile at room temperature for an extended period, the length of whichdepends upon t-he shelf life of the packaging materal used.

The invention will enable the npackage pasteurisation or Sterilisationof milk.Y Drinking Vwater may be sterrilised by ltration, andaseptically introducedinto presterilised containers for storage. It mayalso be asepti- Vcally extracted for consumption from these containersas required.

The covering material of the tape or strip iilter may be paper, plasticmaterial, a textile fabric, metal or other convenient sheet material.

The iilter material and the covering material may be made waterrepellent, bacteria proof, mould proof, insect proof, chemically inert,ferro-magnetic or re proof, if these qualities are required but are notinherent in the material selected.

Hermetic sealing of` the container, after the exhaustion of the air andthe introduction of sterilized air or gas, may be effected by airimpervious adhesive tape applied over the opening and filter therein, orby heat welding when the nature of the material of the container admitsof this.

Where the filter material is enclosed in covering material havinglongitudinal margins for attachment to the container, these margins mayhave holes in them, or may embody a magnetic recorder tape, for use witha punched-card or magnetic coding device whereby the identity of thecontents of the container may be vanance with one form of'the Vpresentinvention.

FIGURE 2 is a transverse vertical section, on a larger scale, throughthe mouth portion and lter of the said container. Y

YFIGURE 3 is a longitudinal horizontal section through the said mouthportion and ilter.

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view of a modified form of lter unit inaccordance with the invention.

'the mouth portion of a container having therein a filter strip in whichthe filtering material is not enclosed between covering material but isbonded directly to the container.

FIGURES 'is Va vertical longitudinal section through the mouth portionof a container in which a dual lter Vunit isV embodied,V in accordancewith a modiied form of the invention.

FIGURE 9 is a transverse section on line 11K-TX, 'i

FIGURE 8.

FIGURE 10 is a perspective view and Y FIGURE 11 is a sectional view ofanother .modification.

FIGURE 12 represents a fragmentary sideelevation -of the topportion of acontainer provided with air filtering means in accordance with a furthermodiiication.

-material impervious to air and water.

FIGURE 13 is a cross-section on line XIII-XIII, FIGUREk 12.

FIGURE 14 is a cross-section through the upper portion of a containerhaving another form of lter device in accordance with the invention.

FIGURE 15 isa fragmentary plan view.

FIGURE 16 is a longitudinaly section on line XVI- XVI, FIGURE 15. g

FIGURE 17 is a perspective view of a modication of the last-namedembodiment of the invention.

FIGURE 18 is a cross-section on line XVIII-XVIII,

FIGURE 17.

FIGURE 19 is a perspective view of another variation of the embodimentin FIGURES 14 to 16.

FIGURE 20 represents a wrapper in its opened-out condition, embodyingair `iltering means in accordance with the invention.

FIGURE 21 is a longitudinal section through the package produced by thefolding of the Vwrapper shown in FIGURE 20.

FIGURE 22 is a vertical transverse section thereof.

Referring to FIGURES 1 to 3 of the said drawings,V

a container for enclosing goods that are required to be maintained in asterile condition consists of a bag-like body part 1 having at its upperend an open mouth portion 2, and over the open mouth an air sterilizingfilter device is tted. This filter device consists of a at strip 3 of anair sterilizing and filtering material, such as an anastomosingsynthetic sponge of suitable texture and which is processed or Vtreatedto incorporate the necessary sterilizing qualities as well as any otherqualities desired, such as water-repellent and fire-resistantcharacteristics. Instead of the material being an anastomosing syntheticsponge it mayV consist of polyurethane foam or coarse-texture bibulousstrip.` The said strip 3 is enclosed or sandwiched between two strips 4,4, of covering material applied to opposite side faces and bondedthereto -by adhesive or other means. The covering strips 4 are ush withthe top edge of the lter material Y3, so that said edge is exposed, tothe atmosphere, but the said covering strips 4 extend downwards belowthe lilter material in the form ofV margins 5 and also extend beyond theends of said material at 6. The ililter strip 3 seats upon the top edgeof the Vside Walls of the container mouth portion 2 (the mouth is shownopen in FIGURE 2) and the margins v5 of the covering strips overlap andare bonded to the outside surfaces of the walls of the container. Theend extensions 6 are cemented or bonded together to close the ends ofstrip 3 and are also bonded `to the container body. They extend slightlybeyond the side edges of the container, as at 7, so that said edges andthe ends of the mouth are enclosed. 'Ihe container body may be made ofany desired air and water imper vious material, such as transparent orother plastic dilm, iilm laminate, aluminium laminate, coated paper orother The covering material 4 of the iilter material is made of amaterial suitable for being bonded to the material of the containerbody, and may be of plastic, paper, metal foil, textile fabric or thelike. The bonding may be.- by means of an adhesive or, in the case of aYplastic material, Iby heat welding.

VvThe container body is sealed except -for the iilter-tted mouth, andthus air entering the container must pass through the lter, beingthereby sterilized.

Initially, the bottom or one sideof the container may be open, toreceive the contents to be packed, and is rclosed by heat-sealing, bythe application of adhesive or by other suitable sealing method, afterthe contents have been inserted. The container may then be exhausted ofits original air content so that any air or other gas subsequentlyentering the container is compelled to pass through the filter, beingthereby sterilized. lfdesired, the contents of the container, whilst inplace therein, may be sterilized by any convenient process, such as inan autoclave, or bythe ethylene oxide or other gas sterilizationtechnique, or by a dry heat process, provided that the packagingmaterial is suitable for the conditions imposed. The container may besubsequently lled with nitrogen, and, if desired, hermetically sealed sothat the contents would be preserved from changes due to oxidation.

In the modication illustrated in FIGURES 4 to 6 the filter deviceconsists of a ilat strip 3 of air filtering materialV surrounded by andbonded to a flat elongated sleeve-like cover 4, of any suitablematerial, to form an elongated iilter unit with top and bottom edges ofthe iiltering material exposed; and this unit is tted closely and bondedwithin the mouth 2 of the container, between the walls thereof, with thetop edge liush with the edges of said walls.

As shown in FIGURE 7, however, the lter device may consist of a atelongated strip 3 of the ltering material iitted directly within themouth 2 of the container without any covering material around the saidhltering material, the lter being directly bonded to the walls of thecontainer. This construction may be used when the iiltering material isof a suitably ine texture to permit of a satisfactory bond beingobtained by the use of an adhesive without the latter penetrating intothe interior of the ltering material.

FIGURES 8 and 9 illustrate the use of a dual -lter device. The devicecomprises an outer sterilizing strip 3 of ltering material suitablytreated to intercept bacteria, and an inner strip S of untreatedchemically-inert filtering material. Both strips are enclosed and bondedto covering tapes or strips 4, 4, applied to opposite sides to form atape unit. 'Ihe filter strips 3, 8 are arranged edgewise in co-planaralignment and are spaced vertically from one another in parallelrelation. The covering 4 extends 'above the top strip 3 to form margins9 at front and back, these being bonded together along their lengthexcept at the middle, where they are Ibulged outwards to -form an airinlet duct 10 communicating with the top edge of the lter strip 3. Thetwo front and back cover ing strips 4, 4, are also bonded togetherbetween the iilter strips 3, 8, as at 11, and also below the strip 8,except at the middle to form an air duct 12 communieating with theinterior of the container 1. The ends of said covering strips 4 aresecured together at the ends, as at 13, but leaving spaces 14 betweenthem at opposite ends of the lter strips 3, 8. 'I'he dual ilter unit,constructed as above described, is closely 'ntted between the walls ofthe mouth portion 2 of the container and is bonded thereto. Thus, airentering at 10 can only pass into the container 1 by iirst traversingiilter strip 3 longitudinally, then passing through the spaces 14 intothe lower lter strip 8 which it has to traverse longitudinally in orderto reach the duct 12 leading into the container.

Another modification is shown in FIGURES l `and 11. A container 1 has anopening 15 in its top 16, and bonded to said top 16 is an air lter unitcomprising -air ltering material 3 as already described, contained inand bonded to an encircling covering strip 4 of any suitableair-impervious material that can be secured by adhesive to the container1 as well `as to the filtering material 3. An air inlet slot 17 isprovided in the covering 4 at `one edge of the ilter unit, and anopening 18 is provided in said covering material at the base of the unitin a position such as to coincide with the opening 15 -in the container.The ends of the 'llter unit may be open, -as indicated in FIGURE l0, sothat the material 3 is exposed, provided the opening 1S is at a suicientdistance from the open ends to give the necessary effective length offiltering material to be traversed by air entering the said open ends.Or the said ends may be closed by the covering material.

In the form shown in FIGURES 12 and 13, la filter unit A is secured byadhesive or is otherwise 'bonded between the side Walls of the mouthportion 2 of a container 1. This unit A (FIGURE 13) consists of airfiltering material 3 enclosed between two side strips of coveringmaterial 4, 4, extended in the form of side-by-side anges 19 at the topand similar side-by-side llanges 20 at the bottom. These flanges aresuitably cemented or bonded together, and vgaps 21 `are formed at themiddle of the top flanges 19 extending downwards to expose the lteringmaterial, and la similar gap 22 is formed at 4the middle of the bottomanges 20, the latter being situated Within the container. The ends ofthe covering strips 4, 4, extend beyond the material 3 and are `suitablysecured together so as entirely to enclose the filtering material exceptwhere the gaps 21, 22, are provided. Air entering the top gap 21 has topass through the material 3 and out through the lower gap 22 in order toenter the container.

In 4the form of the invention illustrated in FIGURES 14 to 16, a ltertape or strip unit consists of a flat strip of air filtering material 3enclosed between and bonded to two upper and lower covering strips 4, 4of -any suitable tape material, as hereinbefore described, 'and strips4, 4', being wider than the strip 3 of filtering material so as to formlongitudinal margins 23, 23' at opposite sides. The opposed margins ofthe top and bottom strips 4, 4', receive between them and are bonded tothe edge portions 24 of the containerl which are adjacent `an opening ormouth provided in said container, so that the lter device bridges saidopening or mouth. The top covering strip 4 has `a single row ofspaced-apart holes 25 in yit and the lower strip 4 has a similar singlerow of holes 26 in it, but the holes in the one row are staggeredrelatively to those in the other row, so tha-t air entering the holes 25in the top strip 4 has to pass through a predetermined minimum length ofthe iiltering material 3 before it can enter the container through theholes 26 in the lower strip 4', being thereby sterilized. The margins23, 23 are continued around the ends of the iilter strip 3 and receivebetween them and are bonded to the wall of the container 1 at .the'endsof the opening or mouth of the latter, as

shown in FIGURE 16.

In the modification represented Iin FIGURES 17 yand 1S, there is asingle row of holes 25 in the upper tape strip 4 along lthe longitudinalcentre line thereof, but in the lower strip 4 .there are twolaterally-spaced rows of holes v27, 27 disposed respectively -at equaldistances from the centre line; and these holes 27, 27 are `alsoarranged with pairs in transverse alignment at positions mid-way betweensuccessive holes 25 in the -upper strip 4. The air entering the upperholes 4 has to pass in oblique directions through the iiltering material3 enclosed between the strips 4, 4', before it can pass through theholes 27 into the container 1. The Varrangeirrent of .the holes could bereversed, there being two laterally-spaced holes in the upper strip 4and a single central row of holes in the lower strip 4.

In the further alternative shown in FIGURE 19, the construction of thefilter device and its attachment to the container 1 is as in'FIGURES 14to 18, but there are a series of transverse rows of holes 2S in theupper covering strip 4 and a series of similar transverse rows of holes29 (shown dotted) in the lower covering strip 4', the rows in the saidupper strip 4 being staggered in relation yto those in the lower strip4.

According to another modiiication, as illustrated in FIGURES 20 to 22, apackage is formed from a wrapper consisting initially in a at sheet 30of Iair impervious transparent material in one half 30 of which ianumber of yrecesses or cavities 31 are moulded, and applied along oneedge of this half of the material is a strip of lair filtering andsterilizing material 3, contained between two covering strips ofmaterial 4, as in the other construction (only one strip 4 Aisindicated), the same being bonded to the sheet 30. The lilter strip 3 iscommon -to all the cavities, being in communication therewith by meansof ducts 32. Articles to be packed are placed in the cavities and thenthe left-hand half 33 of the sheet 30 is folded along the line 34 so asto lie over the recessed right-hand half 30, being bonded to the latterIalong the edges and between the cavities 31 ,and also Vto the coveringmaterial '4 `of the Viilter strip, so as to produce amultiple-compartment package as shown in FIGURES 21 and'22.l Insteadofone half of ya single sheet being tolded over on tothe other half of thesheet, there may be two separate sheets corresponding to the two halves30, 33, of the single sheet, one of these sheets being formed with thecavities 31r and having a iilter strip common to them, and. theothersheet being plain and applied over and bonded-to the first-namedsheet in order .to form the multiple-compartment package. Or, ifdesired, both sheets may be recessed to` form thev cavities in thecompleted package.

' These multiple-compartment. packages are particularly useful for thesterilization and storage of surgical instruments such as hypodermicsyringes, hypodermic needles, blood transfusion sets, spinal punctureVsets and the like, each item or set of items being housed in aseperately sealable compartment connectedwith a common sterilizingfilter. It will be seen from the description herein that theair'enteringa container or package must pass through a sterilizing air filter in theform of a flat strip or tapelike length of air filtering and sterilizingmaterial, whether edgewise through a longitudinal edge surface of thelter, or through an end surface thereof, or transversely from one sidesurface to the other, or through any two of said surfaces. It is also tobe understood that in all forms of the invention the filter, or at leastone lter where more than-one is used (as in FIGURES 8 and 9), is to beltreated to ensure sterilization of air passing through it, `and alsomay be 'treated to give other qualities, such as being water-repellentand tire resistant.

When the covering ofthe filter device comprises side margins, as inFIGURES 14 and 19, these margins may Yhave holes in them, or may embodya.- magnetic recorder tape, for use with a punched-card or magneticcoding device whereby the identity of the contents of the containerA maybe announced. Y

In the case of pillows and mattresses, they may be sterilized internallyby suitable gas treatment, such as by ethylene oxide and the like, orformaldehyde; and also externally by the application of liquiddetergents and disflat-sided strip of air-filtering.water-repellantsponge-like Y material which is of a homogenous texture and which hasbeen pre-treated, prior to incorporating in the container,

absage@ with a sterilizing medium which will be lethal to the growth ofany viable matter intercepted in the iiltering material, said strip ofmaterial being of greater length than width with atparallel faces and-being bonded by its side portions to the container at opposite sides ofsaid mouth, with vthe lower surface directly exposed Vtothe ,interior ofthe container and with another surface exposed to the outsideYatmosphere so thatthe only ingress ot air into the container is throughthe filtering material.`

2. A package as set forth in claim 1 including a strip of coveringVmaterial bonded in sealed vrelation to the opposed sides of said stripof material and the adjacent side surfaces of said llexible container.

3. `A package as claimed in claim 1, wherein a at strip of-the airriltering material is ltted, between the sides of the opening of thecontainer with its longer dimension extending along the length of saidvopening with one 1ongitudinal Yedge of said stripbeing exposed toexternal atmosphere and the other longitudinal edge being incommunication with the interiorof the container. Y

4. A package as claimed in claim 1, wherein the :filter is composed oftwo flat' stripsof air iiltering material which are arranged edgewiseand in coplanar alignment in a single tape'tted within the mouth oropening of the container so that air entering .the latterhas to passthrough bot-h strips in succession, an edge of the outer Strip beingexposed tothe exterior atmosphere'and an edge of the inner strip fbeingin communication with the'interior of the container, at least one ofsaid strips being pretreated with an air-sterilizing material.

5. A package according -to claim 1, wherein said package comprises twosuperimposed sheets of material joined together along three sides, withsaid flat strip of air iltering and `sterilizing material bonded betweenthe remaining sides of thejsheets, and said sheets also lbeingjoinedtogether at` positions between opposite sides, so as to form a pluralityof compartments with respect to. which strip of tiltering material iscommon.

6. A package according to claim 5, wherein at least one of the twosheets is-recessed to form av plurality of hollow compartments orcavities, each compartment or cavity communicating by a duct with thestrip of air filtering material.

the

References Cited in the le of this vpatent UNITED STATES PATENTS

1. A PACKAGE COMPRISING A FLEXIBLE BAG-LIKE CONTAINER MADE OF AIR- ANDWATER-IMPERVIOUS MATERIAL, AND MEANS DISPOSED IN SAID CONTAINER TO BEMAINTAINED SUBSTANTIALLY IN THE CONDITION IN WHICH IT WAS DEPOSITED INSAID CONTAINER, SAID CONTAINER HAVING AT ONE END AN ELONGATED MOUTHCLOSED BY AN AIR STERILIZING FILTER CONSISTING OF AN ELONGATEDFLAT-SIDED STRIP OF AIR-FILTERING WATER-REPELLANT SPONGE-LIKE MATERIALWHICH IS OF A HOMOGENOUS TEXTURE AND WHICH HAS BEEN PRE-TREATED, PRIORTO INCORPORATING IN THE CONTAINER, WITH A STERILIZING MEDIUM WHICH WILLBE LETHAL TO THE GROWTH OF ANY VIABLE MATTER INTERCEPTED IN THEFILTERING MATERIAL, SAID STRIP OF MATERIAL BEING OF GREATER LENGTH THANWIDTH WITH FLAT PARALLEL FACES AND BEING BONDED BY ITS SIDE PORTIONS TOTHE CONTAINER AT OPPOSITE SIDES OF SAID MOUTH, WITH THE LOWER SURFACEDIRECTLY EXPOSED TO THE INTERIOR OF THE CONTAINER AND WITH ANOTHERSURFACE EXPOSED TO THE OUTSIDE ATMOSPHERE SO THAT THE ONLY INGRESS OFAIR INTO THE CONTAINER IS THROUGH THE FILTERING MATERIAL.